Freedom for Shetland!

If Scotland can claim independence — and a ‘geographical share’ of the oil
regardless of population — then why can’t Orkney & Shetland? It’s the Up Helly Aa festival in Lerwick tonight, where men dress up as vikings and set a longship ablaze. Not a very Scottish
festival, but when your nearest city is Bergen how Scottish do you feel? Laurance Reed, a former Hebridean resident (and ex-MP), has a piece in this week’s magazine pointing out that, by the
Salmond doctrine, there is nothing to stop the Scottish islands breaking off, claiming the oil wealth and becoming the Dubai of the north. His piece is below.

Freedom for Shetland!, Laurance Reed, The Spectator, 28 January 2012

On Tuesday night in Lerwick, capital of the Shetland Islands, hundreds of men dressed as Vikings will parade through the centre of town, carrying torches to set fire to a wooden long ship in a
festival known as Up Helly Aa. All will march to a repertoire of battle songs, with blood-curdling lyrics. ‘Our galley is the People’s Right, the dragon of the free’ runs the main
hymn of the evening. ‘Sons of warriors and sages: when the fight for freedom rages, be bold and strong as they!’ And not even Alex Salmond would be bold enough to suggest that they are
singing about Scotland.

The people of Orkney and Shetland share little of Salmond’s enthusiasm for independence, as was reflected in the 1997 devolution referendum. It is hard to join a tide of Edinburgh-focused
nationalism if your nearest city is Bergen. And if Scotland does vote to secede from Britain, might it be the start of a further unravelling? On what grounds could you stop Orkney, the Shetlands,
even the Hebrides claiming their own independence? And what effect would this have on Scottish oil revenues and the ability of Edinburgh to pay the pensions which London no longer funded?

The Shetlands were pawned by King Christian of Norway centuries ago, and no one has
bothered to ask lawyers how a claim to independence would work. But the Salmond principle is clear: if a country votes for separation, it should be granted it — together with a
‘geographical share’ of the oil revenues decided by drawing an imaginary border across the North Sea. Using such methods, Salmond is laying claim to 90 per cent of the oil revenue. Were
the Orcadians and Shetlanders to do so, then Lerwick (pop 7,000) might well end up as the Dubai of Europe.

And what of my former home, the Hebrides? The people of the islands were, after all, separate from Scotland for hundreds of years — first under the Norse and then the Kingdom of the Isles.
They have their own language, their own culture and their own outlook on life. If a government in Stornoway, on the Isle of Lewis, elected to go its own way and laid claim to its share of the
continental shelf in the vicinity of Rockall, the gaeldom could also live quite comfortably on oil and gas revenues.

If oil and its riches can transform the fortunes of the Scottish National Party and destabilise the United Kingdom just a few decades after its discovery, what makes us think that the people of the
Hebrides will not be changed by the black stuff? Wait until the oil price goes through the roof as the result of demand in Asia, making the exploitation of the Hatton/Rockall Basin profitable. The
Icelanders and the Faroese may soon scramble for the riches.

The notion of Scottish independence throws up all sorts of other difficult questions. If England voted to leave the European Union, and a separate Scotland chose to stay, some form of physical
border would have to be built between us to control trade and the movement of people. Would there be frontier police examining papers at checkpoints on roads leading south into England? Or customs
officials on the night sleeper to Inverness?

All this is conjecture, but that is the point. We don’t know what will happen if a Pandora’s box of secession is opened. And if Salmond is a champion of separatism, may we ask whether
on his latest trip to China he had an opportunity of raising with his hosts the question of Tibet? Or are we to understand from his silence that a separate Scotland — with, we are told,
its own defence force — would defend its own freedom but never come to the defence of anybody else?

Once, Europe consisted of hundreds of polities: Italy, as a country, is no older than the London Underground. The idea of nationalism is a relatively modern concept. If this trend is to reverse,
with the focus on what divides us rather than what unites us, then who is next? The Bretons in France, the Basques and Catalans in Spain, the Northern League in Italy and the Flemish in the cockpit
of Europe. And we must not forget the Principality. Wales is an old country. She was a nation when the Scots were still on their way from Scythia. Not to mention Cornwall, which has its own flag,
anthem, history — and nationalist movement.

Where might the fragmentation of Britain and Europe end? Salmond’s separatists should certainly be invited to tell us.

Laurance Reed is a former MP for Bolton East, and a resident of the Hebridean island of Soay in Loch Scavaig.

should Quebec separate from Canada, the native population of Quebec has voiced its’ intent to separate from Quebec.

UKOK

Shetland DOES claim freedom and we are FREE on our own like Iceland and the Faroe Islands. Our ship the Norröna serves us all. The Northlink also goes to Scotland. Learn more at http://www.UKOK.fr.gd The United Kingdom of Shetland, Iceland, Faroe and Norway.

Rab C

Peter From MaidstoneFebruary 1st, 2012 9:45am

“Orkney and Shetland were Norwegian until the 15th century”The Northern isles have been happily Scottish for the past 540 years and show no inclination to unite with Norway -try again.

“Scotland may notionally be a country, but it is not really much more than a large county itself” Yet more patronizing guff – like, twicw the size of Switzerland, denmark or the Netherlands to name but three. BTW dis you know that England is only a fifth of the size of France? maybe they should annexe it.

Minekiller

Good article. I imagine Wee Alex and Nicola hadn’t thought of this one. Alternatively, The Orkneys and Shetland Islands might vote to remain in the UK and we’d end up with a Northern Ireland-Eire scenario….I wonder then if we’d see the dark side of the SNP emerge?

Steve Tierney

I can’t really see why some comments are running this article down. It may well be mischief-making, but it’s no less valid for that.

I believe there is a shift in public opinion towards smaller states – I think that shift is driven by a desire to “belong” to a nation which has been undermined by international developments over the last hundred years.

I suspect the thrust of this piece is actually correct – it will accelerate and we cannot imagine what the repercussions might be in the long term.

and I’ll go to bed at noon

This is… beyond pathetic. Can’t wait to see Massie eviscerate this one in his ongoing “Better Unionists Please” series.

Wilhelm 1

London is already a foreign country, it’s an African muslim third world slum.

It’s got more in common with Soweto than the rest of England.

Ian Walker

You’ll be paying the Independent Republic of Kent some hefty toll fees if you want to use our ports for your exports.

Mind you, we’ll need the money to afford the War Of Bromley with Widmerpool’s London, since some parts of the county are inside the M25……

Mark

Islay, with 8 distilleries, could become a crown dependancy like the Isle of Man.

After all, it was home to the Kingdom of the Lord of the Isles, a title still held by the Prince of Wales.

Kittler

Peter, we will worry about the Northern Isles whilst you can concern yourselves about your Northern Cities declaring themselves Islamic Emirates.

Kittler

Quite right Widmerpool, the majority of the London population not being English, what you suggest is evidently sensible.

starfish

It is interesting how the terms and boudaries of Scottish Independence can apparently only be defined by the SNP

No-one else has a say

Bit like the ANC in the South Africa

Very democratic

Peter From Maidstone

Orkney and Shetland were Norwegian until the 15th century. There is no ancient connection with any Government in Edinburgh. In any case, the right to self-determination is not determined by history but by democracy. If the Orkney and Shetland islanders wished to be independent of a Scotland run by Salmond would he allow them to make that choice for themselves?

Scotland may notionally be a country, but it is not really much more than a large county itself.

Unionist Lies

I hate to pull the carpet from under you, but the Shetland Movement has been dead for many years. Hardly anyone in the islands is talking about greater autonomy, let alone outright independence or declaring allegiance to Norway, admirable though the Scandinavian way of life is. Shetland’s connections – for NHS services, university/college education and outward migration in general – are with the North of Scotland and the central belt. Oh, and Shetlanders voted 62-38 for devolution in 1997. So perhaps those doing this unionist scaremongering should stop writing all this patronising piffle about people of whom they know very little.

An amusing piece Fraser and in this vein somewhat tongue in cheekily could I suggest independence for London!

With a substantial subvention of the income it generates for UK plc also RBS without the dead hand of Government might even be sold at a profit one day!The following can be considered:1. A natural London Border the M25!2. A prospect of a 15% Income Tax Rate No CGT or ITT [cf Hong Kong]3. Compulsory military service[like Singapore] that might deter some of the rioters4. Turning the House of Commons into a 6 star hotel financed by a rich Russian or Chinese and pack off the MP’s to Manchester where their anti business outpourings are shared by their neighbours there the BBC and the Guardian!And Boris for Chief Executive Ha Ha!

Rab C

It’s not that long ago that Shetland Islands Council were petitioning Westminster to give the Scottish government more control over North Sea oil. Also, the bod who designed the (very popular) Shetland flag also happened to be a founder member of the local branch of the SNP. Draw your own conclusions.

Gregor Addison

Saved to my “Mad Unionist Propaganda” folder for future reference.

michael

What are we supposed to do with this? -Go ner ner n ner ner at the Scots?Well, it’ll tie in nicely with the divisive tactics and strategy of AS.

Max

Divide and rule, an act of desperation Fraser ?

I’ve waisted 5 minutes of my life reading this supercilious load of old piffle, an embarrassment to the Spectator. You might as well say Normandy should be part of England since it was part of England longer than part of France.

Or East Anglia belongs to Denmark and Cornwall belongs to Brittainy.

Fergus Pickering

I’m just winding the Scots up because I’m a bit of an arse. I do apologise.

Fergus Pickering

When I lived in Scotland the local politicians were not at all averse to lining their own pockets. And how many houses has Mr Darling got? Or was it London that corrupted him. When the Irish became independent the local politicians became national. Pillars of virtue headed the sea-green incorruptible government. There was Lemass. There was Haughey. The names roll off the tongue, starting with Hitler-loving de Valera. But the Scots would be different. Of course they would.

The word is ‘cynical’ by the way, from the Greek which I learned in Edinburgh, though I doubt I should learn it now.

The other thing I learned was that a Scotsman with a grievance is not easily confused with a ray of sunshine and that every Scotsman cuddles his grievance close to his heart. Here’s tae us. Wha’s like us. You may continue if you wish.

My brother lives in Shetland. Shetlanders, whatever they decide to do, are not Scots. Protestant Ulstermen – now THEY are Scots all right.

EC

Kittler. January 31st, 2012 10:11pm

“Good God EC, that means sharia law is coming to Bradford and..”

Coming? It arrived over 10 years ago, Kittler.

Anonymous

This piece is straight from the whitehal ministry of unionist lies and misinformation handbook. Unionists need to up their game quickly or they will have lost the argument forever.

james of Dundee

Shetland has never been a country…if it was allowed to choose and then chose not to remain part of Scotland then surely it would choose Norway over bankrupt England? The Western isles was part of Scotland when Alba was formed. Scotland by the same right would be able to canvas in Berwick and Man for return of these territories, and England can put pressure on Germany over the Heligoland islanders right to self determination?

Robert

Shetland is the most pro UK place in the UK in both world wars more men were killed per head of population than anywhere other in the UK

RPC

Why is everyone ignoring the Vectis question? Freedom for the caulkheads!